Magnetic properties and magnetocaloric effects(MCEs) of the HoPdAl compounds with the hexagonal ZrNiAl-type and the orthorhombic TiNiSi-type structures are investigated.Both the compounds are found to be antiferromagnet with the Néel temperature TN=12 and 10 K,respectively.A field-induced metamagnetic transition from antiferromagnetic(AFM) state to ferromagnetic(FM) state is observed below TN.For the hexagonal HoPdAl,a small magnetic field can induce an FM-like state due to a weak AFM coupling,which leads to a high saturation magnetization and gives rise to a large MCE around TN.The maximal value of magnetic entropy change(?SM) is-20.6 J/kg K with a refrigerant capacity(RC) value of 386 J/kg for a field change of 0-5 T.For the orthorhombic HoPdAl,the critical field required for metamagnetic transition is estimated to be about 1.5 T,showing a strong AFM coupling.However,the maximal SM value is still-13.7 J/kg K around TN for a field change of 0-5 T.The large reversible SM and considerable RC suggest that HoPdAl may be an appropriate candidate for magnetic refrigerant in a low temperature range.
Our recent progress on magnetic entropy change(S) involving martensitic transition in both conventional and metamagnetic NiMn-based Heusler alloys is reviewed.For the conventional alloys,where both martensite and austenite exhibit ferromagnetic(FM) behavior but show different magnetic anisotropies,a positive S as large as 4.1 J·kg-1·K-1 under a field change of 0-0.9 T was first observed at martensitic transition temperature T M～197 K.Through adjusting the Ni:Mn:Ga ratio to affect valence electron concentration e/a,T M was successfully tuned to room temperature,and a large negative S was observed in a single crystal.The △S attained 18.0 J·kg-1·K-1 under a field change of 0-5 T.We also focused on the metamagnetic alloys that show mechanisms different from the conventional ones.It was found that post-annealing in suitable conditions or introducing interstitial H atoms can shift the T M across a wide temperature range while retaining the strong metamagnetic behavior,and hence,retaining large magnetocaloric effect(MCE) and magnetoresistance(MR).The melt-spun technique can disorder atoms and make the ribbons display a B2 structure,but the metamagnetic behavior,as well as the MCE,becomes weak due to the enhanced saturated magnetization of martensites.We also studied the effect of Fe/Co co-doping in Ni 45(Co1-xFex)5 Mn36.6In13.4 metamagnetic alloys.Introduction of Fe atoms can assist the conversion of the Mn-Mn coupling from antiferromagnetic to ferromagnetic,thus maintaining the strong metamagnetic behavior and large MCE and MR.Furthermore,a small thermal hysteresis but significant magnetic hysteresis was observed around TM in Ni51Mn49-xInx metamagnetic systems,which must be related to different nucleation mechanisms of structural transition under different external perturbations.
The magneto-optical Kerr effect susceptometry technique is proposed to determine the uniaxial magnetic anisotropy(UMA) constant Ku. The magnetic properties of Cu/Fe/SiO2/Si grown by dc magnetron sputtering were investigated. The in-plane uniaxial magnetic anisotropy was probed by the magneto-optical Kerr effect(MOKE). The value of UMA, Ku= 2.5×103J/m3, was simulated from the field dependence of ac susceptibility along the hard axis according to the Stoner–Wohlfarth(S–W) model, which is consistent with Ku= 2.7×103J/m3 calculated from the magnetic hysteresis loops. Our results show that the magneto-optical Kerr effect susceptometry can be employed to determine the magnetic anisotropy constant owing to its high sensitivity.
The ferromagnetic semiconductor La 2 NiMnO 6 (LNMO) has recently received much attention due to its high Curie temperature (T C ～ 280 K), which is close to room temperature. We prepared single-phase LNMO polycrystalline samples and investigated the temperature- and field-dependent magnetic behaviors of bulk LNMO. Between T C and T*= 300 K, we observed upward and downward deviations from the Curie-Weiss law for high and low magnetic fields, respectively. From the electron spin resonance results, we can exclude the existence of the Griffiths phase. On the contrary, our results indicate that the abnormal magnetic behaviors might be induced by antisite phase boundaries with antiferromagnetic interaction.
The Jahn-Teller distortion plays an important role in determining the exchange interaction in rare-earth manganites.In this work we study the influence of the Jahn-Teller distortion on the magnetic structures of TbMn1-xFexO3(x = 0,0.02,0.05,0.10,and 0.20) single crystals in the basal MnO2 plane.The decrease in the quadruple splitting with the increasing Fe doping indicates the reduction of the Jahn-Teller distortion,which makes the nearest neighboring(NN) FM interaction dominant over the next nearest neighbor(NNN) AFM interaction.This alteration is favorable for the development of A-type AFM ordering instead of the spiral magnetic ordering,which collapses when x ≥ 0.05.The analysis of dielectric data indicates that the ferroelectricity is arising from the peculiar spiral magnetic ordering.
Organic spintronics refers to control spin dependent transport through organic materials.In the last two decades,extraordinary development has been achieved for organic-spintronics.A series of theoretical and experimental studies have been done to reveal the mechanisms of spin dependent transport properties.The theoretical analysis is based on the non-equilibrium Green's function formalism provides a mathematical framework for solving the transmission coefficients in the Landauer formula from atomistic first principles without any phenomenological parameters.In this article,we provide a brief theoretical review on organic spintronics devices and device physics therein.
The coexistence of magnetic ordering and ferroelectricity,known as multiferroics,has drawn a lot of research effort.Depending on the origin of ferroelectricity,multiferroic materials can be classified into different groups.In this paper,we review recent progress in the field of multiferroics induced by different forms of charge ordering.In addition to a general description of charge order and electronic ferroelectricity,we focus on two specific systems:(1) charge order with frustration in RFe2O4(R=Lu,Yb) system;(2) charge ordered perovskite manganites of the type(R1xCax)MnO 3(R=La,Pr).The charge ordering can be tuned by external electric fields,which results in pronounced magnetoelectric effects and strong dielectric tunability.Other materials and possible candidates with charge order induced multiferroics are also briefly summarized.
Spintronics has received a great attention and significant interest within the past decades,and provided considerable and remarked applications in industry and electronic information etc.In spintronics,the MgO based magnetic tunnel junction(MTJ) is an important research advancement because of its physical properties and excellent performance,such as the high TMR ratio in MgO based MTJs.We present an overview of more than a decade development in MgO based MTJs.The review contains three main sections.(1) Research of several types of MgO based MTJs,including single-crystal MgO barrier based-MTJs,double barrier MTJs,MgO based MTJs with interlayer,novel electrode material MTJs based on MgO,novel barrier based MTJs,novel barrier MTJs based on MgO,and perpendicular MTJs.(2) Some typical physical effects in MgO based MTJs,which include six observed physical effects in MgO based MTJs,namely spin transfer torque(STT) effect,Coulomb blockade magnetoresistance(CBMR) effect,oscillatory magnetoresistance,quantum-well resonance tunneling effect,electric field assisted magnetization switching effect,and spincaloric effect.(3) In the last section,a brief introduction of some important device applications of MgO based MTJs,such as GMR & TMR read heads and magneto-sensitive sensors,both field and current switching MRAM,spin nano oscillators,and spin logic devices,have been provided.
